Student Pharmacists Give Back with Canned Goods and Holiday Cards

Posted January 9, 2015

In the spirit of the holiday season, student pharmacists dedicated their time to help the homeless by collecting canned food and hand-writing Christmas cards. During the week of November 17 to 21, card stock was made available in the Chan Family Health Sciences Learning Center and Clinics and boxes were placed around campus for canned food donations. The students are part of an organization known as the Gleason project which volunteers at the Gospel Center Rescue Mission and Gleason House Medical Center. In the past, the Gleason Project has presented educational materials on health topics such as smoking, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and diabetes. They’ve also hosted a health fair.

Despite their busy schedules and upcoming finals, the students wanted to give back to the community. Heidi Chung ’17, event organizer, said, “As students, it’s easy to get lost in the frenzy of studying for finals and distance ourselves from the Stockton community. By hosting an outreach event for a local shelter, we hoped to provide an opportunity for students to take a break from studying and make a difference in the community.”

Opportunities to give back do not end with this effort. You can join the students in making a difference by volunteering your time at the center or making a donation. They are always in need of support.

The Gospel Center Rescue Mission aims to provide recovery programs, shelter and other resources to homeless individuals and families in Stockton. The Gleason House Medical Center provides health services to people in the programs, as well as homeless individuals in Stockton. Learn more by visiting http://www.gcrms.org/.